Advice on animating lots of small movie clips

Hi,
I have a performance problem that may be best demonstrated
with an example.
http://www.b3ta.cr3ation.co.uk/data/swf/game1.swf
If you look at the animation and watch it for a while you
will see the
number of balls growing.
Initially the performance is so-so but eventually it becomes
totally
unacceptable. So I was wondering if anyone could impart
advice about any
optimizations.
Every tile is a movie clip and every ball is a movie clip
that tweens from
one tile to the next. I also need to read the frame the clips
are on but
when I bound a class to the balls clip it immediatly ran
unacceptably slow.
I have a plan B which involves creating tile animations of
each of the ball
animations, which I know would create a huge performance gain
but would mean
creating 510 tile animations and thus make the animations
unmaintainable.
TIA
Wil

I created a new tween object just the once for each x and y
as neeed. Would
that make much odds?
Is the other poster kglad correct in saying the number of
visible movie
clips in this instance shouldn't be causing problems?
Cheers
Wil
"sly one" <[email protected]> wrote in
message
news:enf1hs$rpb$[email protected]..
> How are you doing the tweens? OnEnterFrames? You will
want to delete each
> of
> the onEnterFrames as they each finish.
>
> Other than that you are running into a major Flash wall:
you can't have
> hundreds of animations running at the same time. Flash
just isn't built
> for
> that.
>

Similar Messages

How can I convert my animation into a working movie clip that can be used with a new scene?

Hello all,
First and foremost, I AM A TOTAL FLASH NOOB. I want to preface this and make it incredibly clear how new this all is to me. I LITERALLY started using flash this morning; that is precisely how new I am.
With that being said I am going to do my best to explain what I'd like to do.
I have created an animation of a spider moving its legs back and forth. I want to be able to combine all of the layers into 1 simple animation that can be imported into new flash scenes with the animation exactly how it stands. I have figured out how to convert the whole animation into a symbol AND I have figured out how to import the movie clip from the library. However, herein lies my problem. When I open a new flash scene and import my animation, I play it and it does nothing at all. It's just the static image of the spider I created with no movement.
I've spent the last couple hours trying to figure out (and doing my own research) what I have done or didn't do to get to this point. I'd be willing to bet I am just going about the entire process incorrectly and I'm simple overlooking a basic facet of the program.
Any insight to fix my ignorance is greatly appreciated.
(P.S. Hell, I don't even know if I am using the correct terminology so for all I know I am confusing every person who has taken the time to look at my question. If I am using incorrect terminology please correct me to avoid future hang ups. Thank you.)

Ned! This totally worked! Thank you! I knew there was a tiny piece of this whole thing that was preventing me from making everything work. Unfortunately as my luck would have it, although I have the movieclip working the spritesheet converter I'm using now no longer recognizes the movie clip. The converter says there are 7 frames in the animation, but doesn't display any working sprites. Just a blank sheet. Frustrating to say the least.
I'm just going to throw everything out on the table here:
This is the video tutorial i'm using to convert my animation into a spritesheet. I've done the steps exactly as directly up until the point I actually click "Begin Conversion." When begin conversion is selected, it shows the movieclip exists on the bottom left underneath "list of movieclips" but doesn't actually show any individual sprites.
Here's the simple sprite converter I am using.
The irony of this whole situation is that you have successfully helped me make a working movieclip (which was the important piece), but the converter no longer recognizes it. Whereas before, it would at least show the image on the 1 frame of animation it had.
If you wanted to to take a stab at it and see if you can successfully get it to work I'd be appreciative. If not, I totally understand as you have already been incredibly helpful and have my eternal gratitude for getting me this far. These animation programs can be quite overwhelming when they so vastly differ from one another. Don't even get me started no Anime' Studio Pro.

Improvement Suggestion: Add Animation to Movie Clips in Repositories

Hi there,
I have been trying to post this improvement suggestion by filling-in the corresponding form but it didn't allow me enough characters to describe it correctly. So I am posting it here now and going to reference it in the Improvement Suggestion form...
Currently it's hard to perform a good edit because Adobe Premiere Pro doesn't provide a clip basket showing all available clips running, allowing the user to preview and choose from different takes of the same scene.
I'd like to suggest to animate all movie clips in all repositories, like Media Browser and Project panels, in order to create kind of an animated lightbox.
These clips should be run without audio, in low resolution and, optionally, at a lower framerate, depending on the machine's capabilities and user's preferences.
Clicking (and thereby activating) one of those movie clips should ...
magnify that clip,
enable audio for that clip,
display a timeline,
and display an in-point and an out-point marker.
Using these markers, the user shall be able to limit the preview loop of the clip in that particular repository (e.g. to repetitively monitor only a small scene of the movie clip).
Here's a link to a small movie clip demonstrating the improvement suggestion as a virtual live demonstration:
(While recording I was suffering from a tonsillitis, so the text might be hard to understand from time to time.)

After carrying this thought with me around for a while I'd like to add an update to my original suggestion:
When comparing different takes (= clips) of the same recorded live scenes, the usual editing process while working with Premiere Pro would be to drill down on the take that's supposed to be inserted into the sequence. So if there were 8 takes of the same scene, first there would be 8 clips to compare, then 7, 6, 5, 4... until the final clip is found.
In the course of the comparison process it would be very helpful to be able to "switch off" those takes that have been decided not to be used. So I'd like to update my suggestion to provide the following additional features:
Each preview clip should provide a play/pause feature. So playback shall be switched on and off individually for each of the preview clips.
As mentioned in my original suggestion, when activated (zoomed), the preview should provide buttons for manipulating that clip preview's playback. Originally I suggested a Play Audio button (with a speaker symbol).
I now, additionally, suggest to add a Play/Pause button to an activated (zoomed) clip preview. If playback is active, that button should display a Pause icon. If playback is paused, the same button should display a Play icon.
Given that, an active preview would be displayed something like this:
After a clip has been selected for an insert, the next editing step would be to search a clip from the repository for the next insertion into the sequence. So all tracks would be back in the game.
So there should be a new menu item, resuming playback of all preview clips in the repository: "Edit > Preview > Play all clips".
If the user wants to concentrate on the Program Montitor video, he/she should be able to pause all preview clips. So I suggest the should be a new menu item complementing the previous one: "Edit > Preview > Pause all clips".
Some people might prefer not to see any animation in the repositories at all. For them there should be a new option available in Premiere Preferences to pause all preview clips by default (this setting would equal to the current behaviour).
The user might want to concentrate on a single preview clip and just want to have this single clip being played back when activated (zoomed).
So I suggest there should also be a Solo option available.
By holding the [CTRL] key down while clicking the Play/Pause button suggested in provision #1, all preview clips should be paused and the currently active (zoomed) preview clip should be played back alone.
In my suggestion I have been focussing on using Premiere Pro with the mouse. But there should be keyboard shortcuts available for all these actions, too.

How to play a movie clip with a tween animation

I created a movie clip symbol with a tween animation and created an instance of it on the main stage. The animation is in the movie clip timeline, not on the main timeline. I cannot get the mc to play using mc.play() or mc.gotoAndPlay. What am I missing??

Hi Ned, thanks for the response;
1.Yes I named the instance.
2.I don't beleive so. I started from the library creating a new symbol, added the graphics, added the key frames, then created the tween. Then I dragged the symbol onto the main stage and named the instance. So I don't think there is a movie clip inside an mc.
Here is the main timline:
Here is the mc timeline:
Here is what I'm trying to do:
stop();
blk1._visible = false;
blk2._visible = false;
blk3._visible = false;
ppk1._visible = false;
ppk2._visible = false;
ppk3._visible = false;
storeCartons = new Array();
storeCartons = [blk1, blk2, blk3, ppk1, ppk2, ppk3];
startButton.onRelease = function() {
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    trace("myNumber "+myNumber);
    activeCarton = storeCartons[myNumber];
    activeCarton._visible = true;
          activeCarton.play();

Movie Clip VS. Animated Graphic

What is the difference between an animated graphic and a
movie clip? Why would you use one over the other?
Thanks.

quote:
Originally posted by:
dzedward
if you're using the Tween class, listen for onMotionFinish
(as2) or MOTION_FINISH (as3) to start the tween over.
no, my movie clip was animated by using for loop. What I want
to do is no matter where I put my movie clip, it will contnuously
move from left to right.

Importing H.264 movie clips

I have taken a lot of 1060p movie clips on my Canon 60D. They imported directly into iPhoto. I want to now make a movie.
I am not sure which is the best method of importing them into FCE4. I can drag and drop them from iPhoto Events into the Browser, or I can export from iPhoto to MPEG Streamclip and export as a QT movie which can then be imported into the browser. Or I wonder if I would get better quality if I used log and transfer directly from the SD card in the camera? Can anyone advise please? Thank you. Keith

Thank you Al and David. I looked at this information carefully. I have set up a new preset for loading in MPEGStreamclip using AIC, dropped in a movie clip from iPhoto, made a movie and then imported that into the browser in FCE. I was able to place that on the timeline without the need for rendering. This seems to be the best procedure for my particluar project. Am I correct? Thank you for your advice. Keith

CS5 movie clips in timeline don't auto-play

So I used flash for some relatively extensive movies back in the MX days, but haven't done much with it since. I'm trying to build a relatively simple movie now in the newest version of the software, but I'm having some trouble.
I want to create various smaller movie clips with animations in them, then drop them into the main timeline and have them animate automatically when the playhead hits them. However, when I view the movie (or test it) all I get is the first frame, they don't animate.
Did I set up the document wrong or something, or is this something basic I missed in the newer versions? Is there a better way to structure this?

Theoretically that's how I always thought it's supposed to work, but it isn't... I created a new document (new > actionscript 3.0) to test this out, then a movie clip within it containing a block that moves left to right. Doesn't animate in the main timeline. Do I need to specifically tell the clip to animate on that frame? Seems redundant.

Adding thousands of instances of a movie clip

I am trying to add around 20,000 instances of a single small
movie clip (HexTile) from the library into a container Sprite using
actionscript. The problem is it loads immediately and it loads very
slowly, so I would like to know if there is a way to preload it?
The class that adds the movie clip library symbol (World) is not
the document class, nor is it referenced from the document class. I
have tried dragging an empty sprite linked to World, and I have
tried exporting it to other frames as well is preloading it as it's
own .swf...any suggestions would greatly appreciated! The code
looks like:

Hi
I guess you can one thing. add dummy pre-loader before loop
and then just hide it after loop ;)

Loading JPGs into Movie Clip

Can anyone help? I am building a site that requires the user
to click on a button to change a large JPG image in a movie clip.
The button is part of a small movie clip that contains a text
number which is the button in question and a thumbnail of the large
image. I need the button to play when rolled out (to fade out the
thumbnail image) and I need the large JPG image to be replaced by
another large JPG image when the button is released. The button
instance is "Load Image" and the movie clip I want the new JPG to
load into is called "Holding Pic". Should I put the action script
on the main timeline? If so, where? Or should I attach the script
to the button?
Many thanks.

This is an article on AS3 but the answer to your question is
the same. You can find it in the first few paragraphs.
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/flash/articles/flacs3it_astimeline.html

Navigating between two movie clips

Within my animation I have two movie clips, one movie clip "clipA" runs to a certain point then a series of buttons appear when you hit the button it loads another movie clip "clipB" into the first movie clip "clipA".
Whith in the second movie clip "clipB" I would like to be able to, at a certain frame navigate to a different frame within "clipA" is this possible to do with actionscript 2.0

In clipB's main timeline you can use _parent.gotoAndPlay.... the _parent targets clipA

Movie clip button help

Hello im trying to develop a small swf file that the user can
control a video that gives the impression of rotation and
transparency using arrow buttons. I have a 2 small movie clip files
that are currently spread across the timeline exactly 200 frames.
the videos are controlled by means of fast forward and rewind this
gives the impression of rotation (backwards and forwrds) i have
already got the fast forward and rewind function working i would
like another set of arrows that control the transparency or alpha
of the second movie clip so that when the user presses either an up
or down arrow button the transparency goes up or down. Im very new
to action script so any basic explanation help would be great. The
code for the forward and rewind buttons is as follows (ignore the
play function as this button is hidden off stage):
stop();
play_btn.onRelease = function (){
play();
pause_btn.onRelease=function(){
stop();
forward_btn.onPress=function (){
_root.createEmptyMovieClip("controller_mc",1);
controller_mc.onEnterFrame=function(){
_root.gotoAndStop(_root._currentframe+3);
if (_root._currentframe+3 > _root._totalframes){
_root.gotoAndStop(_root._totalframes);
forward_btn.onRelease=function (){
controller_mc.removeMovieClip();
forward_btn.onReleaseOutside=function (){
controller_mc.removeMovieClip();
rewind_btn.onPress=function (){
_root.createEmptyMovieClip("controller_mc",1);
controller_mc.onEnterFrame=function(){
_root.gotoAndStop(_root._currentframe-3);
if (_root._currentframe-3 < 1){
_root.gotoAndStop(1);
rewind_btn.onRelease=function (){
controller_mc.removeMovieClip();
rewind_btn.onReleaseOutside=function (){
controller_mc.removeMovieClip();
}

//button is released and increases the Movie Clip's current
alpha value by 10%
increase_alpha_btn.onRelease=function(){
if(MovieClip._alpha<100){
MovieClip._alpha+=10;
//button is released and decreases the Movie Clip's current
alpha value by 10%
decrease_alpha_btn.onRelease=function(){
if(MovieClip._alpha>0){
MovieClip._alpha-=10;

How can I make the Instance name the same as the name of the Movie clip in an animation.

Hi, I am an animator for a small game project and I have this really big problem. Even though I used flash for animation for a long time I am a newbie when it comes to something technical. I just received a request to make every movie clip that I use to have a consistent <Instance name> in every frame of the animation. Only if they told me this earlier... Is there an easier way to make the <Instance name> the same as the name of the Movie clip used other than manually entering it. I have 16 characters with 12 body parts with 20 animations each with about 6-7 frames for each body part it will take me months and nightmares evey night to enter everything by hand. Please help me keep my sanity!
I'm not sure if I explain correctly, so here is a picture:
Thank you!

Thank you for the fast answer! I found this video on jsfl functionality that deals with a similar problem, I am not a coder so it will take me some time to figure it out, but when I do I will probably post the answer here. Here is the video:

Character Animation: Movie Clip or Graphic Symbols?

Should I use Movie Clip or Graphic Symbols for Character
Animation? What do people who make TV shows use. If I'm not
planning on manipulating any symbols with ActionScript and I'm not
using a symbol that requires it's own time line like a walk cycle,
is there any reason to use movie clips symbols? If I put my
animation on the web will it download noticeably faster if I use
graphic symbols instead of movie clip symbols?

What I meant is, there are different ways of setting up a
workflow for Flash animation. Studio animators are trained in
traditional frame-by-frame animation. So their workflow is usually
to do the same in Flash: make every frame a keyframe, then copy and
paste everything from one frame into the next, then make whatever
changes are needed. A classically-trained animator can get a good
momentum working this way.
But for making the most streamlined SWF files, this method is
not the best. It's much better to rely on library assets, place
major parts or sets of parts on different layers, and only keyframe
those things that need keyframes. If good planning is done in
advance, it can be just as fast as doing straight-ahead keyframed
animation.
Either method may end up with the same result. But when you
want to go back and tweak things, it's a whole lot easier to do it
when method 2 is used.
I'm sure I'm not very clear. PM me and I'll send you a list I
created of "best practices" which I give to e-card animators.
One of these best practices is: place a thumbtack on the "G"
key on your keyboard. The very WORST habit that is taught to studio
animators using Flash is to use neither Graphics nor Movie Clips,
but to immediately click Ctrl-G every time they draw something.
This creates a Group. It's faster than hitting F8 and typing in a
name, but it causes ENORMOUS problems, especially when doing
retakes and revisions. And it results in gargantuan SWF files.
I literally GLUED a thumbtack to one one animator's keyboard,
since he seemed unable to remember this rule. Luckily this wasn't
in America, or I'd have been charged with grievous bodily
assualt.

Movie Clip in swf won't show animation in adobe premiere pro cs4

Hi, I am new to this forum and as well as a beginner user of adobe premiere pro cs4. I am recently making a animation using Adobe Flash CS5, I've been using movie clips symbol to create all the movement of the character, background and stuff. Unfortunately, swf movies exported from Adobe Flash CS5 do not show any animation at all in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I have to use movie clips symbol instead of graphic symbol because filters can be added to a movie clip symbol but not graphic symbol. Is there any way to help making the movie clip symbol to be shown in Adobe Premiere Pro CS4? Your help is much appreciated.

Check Flash help in the "video" section, specifically "moving content between" PR and FL. (I was looking at CS4, but it must be there in CS5 help as well.)
Your movie is to be watched on a TV? I would do this in After Effects. because you'll lose most of the flash functionality once you go to video anyway,

Animated drop down buttons not working in movie clip

Hi,
I am working on this site: (AS2)
http://www.steamandclean.com/Index_w_1.html
I have two types of drop down menu. One under Commercial and one under Technical
The buttons are movie clips. The drop downs are also movie clips that start in frame 2 and are triggered on rollover.
The child buttons are buttons living on the drop down movie clips. They are set to getURL
As you see they are not willing to neither link to any url or will they run their move clip animation. One is a button and one is a movie clip.
The left movie clip has a mask, but it makes no difference if I remove the mask . It also has a emboss filter and no difference is I take that away either.
All of it is in one flash movie right now, but I will be splitting it up in a master navigation movie and individual swf's soon.
Right now I have the main movie, then the button MC then the dropdown MC and in the drop down MC I have placed either a animated (button) MC or a button. So it nested in nested in.......
In both cases I scripting the child buttons like this:
on (rollOver) {
gotoAndPlay(2);
on (rollOut) {
gotoAndPlay(6);
on (release) {
getURL("http://steamandclean.com");
I have also tried to use
_parent.getURL and _root.getURL in stead of just get URL, but it does not work.
The drop down buttons seem to be buried. In the left side the whole drop down panel seems to act like a link?
What am I doing wrong?
Can you help?
ggaarde

Hi Ned
Thank you for your reply again.
I figured it out.
Your reply prompted me to have my main button on rollover to go to a frame number on the main time line and then move the content of the drop down movie clip to that frame.
The drop down panel now work and the child buttons animation now work as well. I just had to find a way to make the drop down panel disappear on rollout. Since I could not script the actual drop down panel I created three skinny invisible buttons and placed them on the right, left and button of the drop down panel. I scripted them to go back to frame 1 on both rollover and rollout. Done.
See the result there:
http://www.steamandclean.com/Index_w_1.html
(Left side only)
Thank you for your help.
ggaarde

Advice on animating lots of small movie clips

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